Improvement in dental flugghng-instrttments



J. N.SCRANTON 8v H. H. PARSONS. DENTAL PLUGGING INSTRUMENT.

Patented June l, 1869.

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JOHN'N. SORANTON, OF BENNlNGTON, VERMONT, AND HENRY H.

, PARSONS, OF HOOSICK 4FALLS, NEW YORK.

vLetters Patent No. 90,879, dated June 1, 1869.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patentan making part of the same.

To all whom 'it 'ma/y concern:

Be it known that we, JOHN N. Sonanron, of the town of Bennington, and Stat-e of Vermont, and HEN- RY IiP-Ansons, ofthe village ofHoosiok Falls, county of Rensselaer', and State of N ew York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Mallets for Dental and other purposes.

The nature of this invention consists in a new method of raising the hammer which strikes the blow by meansof a simple pressure upon tho tool-holder, this pressure upon the tool-holder giving it a motion within the case in which itA is enclosed, when the tool-holder is moved.

Motion is communicated through a rod to a system of levers, so connected with the hammer thatl the hammer is moved away from the tool-holder, and this motion of the hammer winds upa spring placed upon the hammer, this connection between the tool-holder and hammer being broken by mechanism hereafter described.

The spring acts upon the hammer, and drives it down upon the tool-holder with more or less force. The tension of this spring is varied by the operator,

- at pleasure, by mechanism hereinafter described.

By this arrangement of parts, the machinery to effect -this operation is all enclosed within a case, and the machinery is entirely out of the way of the operator, allowing him thereby to turn the instrument in his hand, so that he can present the point -of the dental tool in any position he maydesire, and vary the strength of the blow at will, with the fingers of that hand alone in which he holds the instrument.

Angther feature of this invention is a new method of constructing the tool-holder to hold the tool.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe the same,

with reference to the accompanying drawings, form-A ing a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1. is an lisometrical view of the instrument complete.

, Figure 2, a longitudinal section of thesame, taken through one diameter.

Figure 3 is a front elevation of the instrument, looking in a direction at right angles to the plane of the longitudinal section shown in iig. 2, with one-half of the outside case removed.

Figures 4, 5, and 6 are detailed views of the mechanism for changing the tension of the spring.

Like letters of reference refer to like parts.

D is the lower portion of the case of the instrument.

F is the tool-holder.

H is the tool inserted in the same, as shown in the drawing.

lV is a collar, through which the tool-holder passes,l and is held securely within -the case D by means of the screw b, fig. 1.

Within the case D is soldered the circular plate yS.

This plate is perforated in the centre large enough to receive the upperend of the tool-holder F, so that the tool-holder F can freelyl slide up and down within the case, having for its upper bearing the ring S, and for its lower bearing the collar \V.

The tool-holder is also provided with a collar,V` fastened rigidly to it, which prevents the tool-holder from being pressed too far into lthe case, and for another purpose, which will be more fully stated hereafter.

L is the hammer, which also slides freely in the upper portion of the case D. l

Into the lower'portion of the hammer is fitted a block, K. This block may he made of wood, or other substance, the object. being to render the blow softer than would be attained by striking two pieces of steel together.

In the upper portion of the hammer is fitted the coiled spring-N, similar to and encased like an ordinary watch-spring. The cylinder within which this spring is enclosed turns upon ashaft passing through its centre, the shaft being rigidly connected to the cylinder, and turning with it. f

The bearings for this shaft X are made by inserting two pieces of steel, O O, in the upper portion of the hammer L,the lower ends ofwhich rest upon the rubber bearings P P, and their upper ends cut out to receive the shaft at X, the object of the rubber bearings P l being to relieve the spring N and its bearings from the reaction produced by the concussion of the hammer when the blow is struck.

M is a disk, firmly secured to the outside case D, a short distance below the spring N.

Immediately above this disk M is iirmly fastened a vertical plate, y. To the upper corner of this plate is hinged one end of the lever T.

At the end of the lever T yis hinged the lever T,

and the upper end of the lever Tl is hinged to a bar projecting from the hammer, and fastened rigidly thereto. y

The lever T2 is hinged to the lever T at a point one side of its centre, nearer to the point where the lever T is hinged to the plate than to its other end.

T3 is a lever, which is nearly horizontal, and is hinged at one end of the lever T2, and at its opposite end, to the side of the plate Y, opposite the point to which the lever. T is hinged. f

The hammer Lis grooved out to receive the rod Q. The upper end of this rod Q is furnished with a pini' projecting from its side. This pin acts upon and actuates the lever T.

I is a small block of metal, perforated in its centre, through which the upper end of the tool-holder passes. The upper portion of this block is circular in form, and is grooved out to receive the rod Q. Below the circular portion, the block I is cnt away in the shape cf f an inclined plane.

To the lower portion of the tool-holder F is fastened der sido, in one directiongiu the'spring-catch J, which extends upward, and its upper end rests upon the inclined surface of the block I.

B is a ring, which tits over the case D, and is made in the form 'of a truncated cone inverted, a top view of' which isshown in fig. 5.

A small bracket on one side of this ring extends from the Ainner to the outer through which a pin projects at r, lig. 5. This pin passes through a spiral spring, the said spring being placed below the bracket.- f"

The' loweil end of thepin is furnished with a catch, c, -so that the operator can,with his finger or thumbnail, press down the'catoh, and thereby withdraw the pin r below the upper face of the bracket, and when he lets go of' the catch c the pin will resume its position, projecting above the bracket.

A cord, represented in fig. 3 by a red line, is Elstened to and coiled around the case which encloses the spring N. This cord, after leaving the top of the spring N, passes-vertically down through the hole fu. in the disk M, fig. 4, and the lower end of the cord is fastened at n in the ring B.

'The disk M is furnished with a series of holes, this series of holes beingr in a circumference corresponding Vto the circumference of the circle in the ring B, made bythe revolution ofthe ring 'B about the case D.

Thesey holesiny the disk M are cut out on their unthe form of an inclined plane, but,in the other direction, pre-sent abrupt edges to the pin. f

Fig. ,4 shows a top Viewr of the disk M, and fig. 6

shows a top view of the disk inverted.

- C is a short case, which slides on the outside of the "case D.

In the case D is a short slot. passes through the case C, and through the short slot in the case D, and screws into the block I. Bv thisarrangement the case C and the block I can slide up and down the length of the slot, the case C sliding outside of the case D, and the block I sliding within the same.

A is a case, which covers the upper portion of the instrument, and'screws on to the periphery of the disk M.

lVhen the instrument is not in use, the upper end of the tool-holder abnts against the lower end of the hammer, but when the operator presses the tool against any hard substance, the tool-holder F slides upward in its' bearings, and carries with it the spring-catch J.

Thisplring-catch presses against the rod Q, and

At a, a small screw therebyfcarries up, by means of its projectioli yi, the4 lever T3, and, by the arrangements of the levers T, T', T2, and T3, carries up the hammer and the coiled spring faster than the tool-holder moves up, and thereby moves the hammer away from the tool-holder until the upper end of the spring-catch J reaches the top of the inclined plane in the block I, where the connection between the spring-catch J and the rod Q is disengaged.

It is plain that in this upper movement of the hammer, and the coiled spring fastened thereto, the cord being fastened at its lower end below the disk M, the coiledspringis wound up, and the tension of thecoiled spring will be increased in proportion as the hammer is raised, and as soon as the connection between the spring-catch J and the rod Q is broken, the hammer circumference thereof,

- the instrument.

will be forced down upon the tool-holder, and the force` of the blow will be conveyed through the tool-holder and tool to any resisting substance.

The object of the ring B, and its connection with the disk M through the piu fr, is to enable the operator to graduate the strength of the blow. Should he wish to increase the strength of the blow, he places his thumb or linger upon the corrugated surface of the ring B, and revolves the ring upon the case the desired distance, when the pin lr will slide along the inclined under surface of the disk M, and, by action of the spiral spring, the pin o will drop into one or other of the holes in the disk M, and will be retained in that position until the spring-catch c is drawn down, when the ring B will resunle itsf'orlnerposition, or an intermediate one, as the case may be.

The blows may be graduated within certain limits by sliding down the case C on the case D, thereby sliding down the block I, and sooner disengaging the spring-catch J andthe rod Q.

The lower end of the tool-holder F is iliade with a socket to receive the tool, and isvmade of steel, the size ofthe hole being made to lit the shankof the tool. Afterthis holc is bored to receive the tool, the end of the tool-holder is slotted lengthwise, 'as shown at G. The point is then heated, and the several sections, afterbeiug slotted, are then bent in towards the centre. The end of the tool-holder is then hardened, which makes the cavity in the end smaller than above the end, so that the point of the tool-holder will compress the tool. The object of this arrangement is, with a properly-prepared device, to hold the several tools -used in dentistry, to enable the operator to take out one tool andl insert another without laying down The operator can also, by placing his finger upon .the collar V on the tool-holder, use the instrument as he would an ordinary dental tool, to pick up and place in position gold-foil, or other material with which he desires to till the cavity.

A modification of this System of levers may answer the same purpose, by .using only one lever, and passing it through the tool-holder, which we have not deemed necessary to show in the drawings.

Having thus fully described the nature and object of our invention, v v

What we desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-` 1. The arrangement of the hollow case with the toolholder and tool sliding therein, an`d a lever or system of levers, and a tripping-mechanism, connected therewith, by which the hammer is raised and let fall, as herein described and represented. l

2. The combination of the spring-catch J, inclined plane, hammer, tool-holder, levers, and spring, when the same are enclosed within the case.

3. The combination of the perforated disk M, and ring B, with a spring-catch, c, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination of the hammer and spring N, with the bearings X X, resting upon the rubber stops PP. v

J. N. SGRANTON. H. H. PARSONS. Witnesses:

J. RUssELL PARsoNs, A. C. EDDY. 

